Cultivation of Pleione - Part 2

4. When & how to pot PleionePleiones can be potted or re-potted anytime while they are dormant. I believe it is best to re-pot them every year. (Note - all my timing advice applies to the northern hemisphere, you will need to adjust this by about 6 months if you are growing in the southern hemisphere). I usually do mine in two parts - I un-pot them in November and pot them again in January (except for the autumn & winter flowering types which I repot all in one go either just before or immediately after flowering).

First, the un-potting:

When you remove them from the pot you hope to see that they made lots of good root growth like this:

Old Pleione roots at re-potting time

Pull apart the root ball, removing the old compost and most of the dead root. (Pleione roots are annual so die at the end of each growing season). Rather than remove the old roots entirely, trim them back but leave a length of 3 to 4 cm. This will help to anchor the pseudobulb in the new compost when potting. Here are a couple of pictures to show before and after trimming:

Trimming off old Pleione roots

Pleione roots after trimmimg

You will notice in the pictures above that there is an old, shriveled pseudobulb in between the two new pseudobulbs. Like the roots, the pseudobulbs are annual and towards the end of the growing season they shrivel and die. The old pseudobulbs should be removed and thrown away:

Old, shrivelled pseudobulb still attached to new pseudobulb

Old pseudobulb removed

Once they have been un-potted, the old compost removed, roots trimmed and old pseudobulbs removed, I store the new pseudobulbs in paper bags in trays until I am ready to pot them up again:

Pleiones stored in bags awaiting potting up

Stored like this they take up much less room - which means I only have to heat a smaller space through the winter. It also gives me chance to give the glasshouses and benches a thorough clean - I always like to start each new season as clean as possible. Good husbandry always helps towards healthier plants.

Secondly, potting up again:

The pseudobulbs should be planted with approximately one third their depth sticking out above the compost and spaced about 2 cm apart. I first put some compost in the pot then stand the pseudobulbs on it. I then add a topdressing of just bark:

Potting Pleiones

Adding bark topdressing

If you have a lot of one variety, whether adult size or smaller bulbils, you can use a seed tray instead:

Planting in a seed tray

Note that in the photos above I think I should have planted them a bit deeper i.e. not sticking out quite so much!